Lionhearted
by MDemagogue
Summary: Dalton Academy is not all that it was chalked up to be for Kurt Hummel.  Some angst, Sam/Kurt.


A/N: This is just a one shot I'm working on while I get through some writers block for a piece I'm starting writing. Hevans, some angst. I am gleeful at times, but I don't own Glee.

Lionhearted

It was a week before Christmas. Dalton academy had ended classes for the semester yesterday, and Kurt Hummel was finishing packing up the things that he would take home with him for break. Going to Dalton was supposed to make everything better. He was supposed to be happy. Dalton had a zero tolerance bullying policy, after all. The Dalton Academy Warblers were the rockstars of the school, on top of the social pyramid. Membership therein would put him, by association, on top of the social pyramid.

Unfortunately, Dalton was the sort of place that adopted a top-down mindset for everything. In some aspects, like a zero tolerance policy for bullying, that was a good thing. In other elements, it wasn't so much a good thing. Innovation was frowned upon. In fact, putting the utmost effort into trying to get a solo was frowned upon as well. So, Kurt Hummel could be himself, but in a straitjacket.

There was also Blaine. In the beginning, Blaine was great. Finally, someone to talk to who understood what he had gone through as an openly gay teen in Lima. Someone who shared the same passion for performing that he did, albeit, of the Top 40 variety. That was ok, up to a point.

Everything else with Blaine wasn't ok though. Shades of Finn came through to Kurt in his perception of Blaine over time. The rather shallow sentiment of courage that Blaine constantly texted him in the beginning. As if he needed courage. The act of getting out of bed in the morning and going to a school that existed under an unrelenting environment of terror was in itself a courageous act. Much like Finn, Blaine didn't do anything when he had the chance to confront Karofsky. Truth was, Kurt had went and fallen for another Finn, although this version was more coiffed and used too much hair gel.

Fortunately for the Hudson/Hummel household, Dalton wasn't making them pay to send Kurt there for the last couple weeks of the semester that he had started. In the event that he changed his mind on Dalton, he could withdraw and transfer back to McKinley.

* * *

><p>It was a week before Christmas. Bill Evans had lost his job three days prior as a Managing Director of MidWest Security Bank of Ohio. He had joined the bank in June, and things had gone to shit. Decisions made by other people years ago had finally come back to hit the bank when it could least afford the consequences of bad decisions. It teetered on the edge, and the latecomers to the bank were the first people they let go. He was scared for his family. They had burned through most of their savings for the move and a down payment on a house here. Sam saw this fear, recognized it for what it was, because he had seen it before.<p>

The fear of uncertainty. Of not knowing what was coming next. Of being terrified of a fiend in human form who existed only to terrify you. Yes, Sam was all too familiar with this, having seen it in his friend Kurt. At the time he had been too absorbed in the shallow concerns of being popular, of fitting in to detect these things. He had been too afraid of being unpopular to come out. He had tried to establish a relationship with Quinn, as a mask against the world.

Quinn wasn't a bad person. She was just concerned about her own popularity, and had her own shallow ends in mind. She was capable of being compassionate and understanding, but that wasn't often. She didn't have any interest in dating him until he acted against Karofsky, which made him slightly more popular amongst the plebeians of McKinley high. That translated into more votes for a prospective Evans/Fabray ticket for Junior Prom. It also made him realize that she didn't care for him, but rather the votes that he could theoretically deliver.

He felt used, which wasn't surprising, since he was also using Quinn for his own ends. He had acted dishonorably towards her, and had failed to be a friend when Kurt needed one. The worst part about it was that Kurt thanked him for what he had done. It was so little, yet it was more than anyone else had done.

* * *

><p>Burt Hummel turned the corner onto the long driveway heading up toward Dalton Academy. He wasn't sure how Kurt had been doing. Studies had kept contact between the two of them to a minimum. Also, he was still doing weekly checkups with his doctor to make sure that his heart was working properly. He was also a newlywed, so he was getting acquainted with Carole as well. He knew that Kurt and him lived separate lives. If they didn't schedule time together, they didn't interact.<p>

Hopefully, with the New Year, that would change. His heart would hopefully be in the clear and hopefully Kurt would find a manageable studying schedule so they could have some time together. Getting out of his truck, he felt like a fish out of water. He realized, rather abruptly, that this feeling of otherness was probably something that Kurt had suffered from for most of his life. Nobody, but nobody, pushes the Hummels around, so he would push this awkward feeling down, manage to get his son, and go home for the holidays. He walked up to Kurt's dorm room, and knocked on the door. Kurt opened it, launching himself into his arms.

"I've missed you dad."

"I've missed you too son."

Those phrases were all that were needed. Burt saw that the transfer to Dalton hadn't solved the problem of Kurt being able to belong somewhere on his own terms.

"I don't want to come back here in January dad."

"Then we won't son."

They cleared out his dorm room, and made a couple trips down to the truck and left Dalton Academy behind.

* * *

><p>December 23rd found Sam Evans staying over at the HudsonHummel house with Finn and Puck, playing Call of Duty Black Ops. The system only supported two players at a time, so they played split screen, using the XBOX live system to connect online with Artie and Mike Chang so that they could kill as many Nazi Zombies as they could.

Sam had been nervous the entire evening. Kurt was down in the basement working on projects unknown and made a brief appearance to greet Noah and Sam when they first got here. That simple greeting had sent a flutter through his entire being, but Kurt had retreated downstairs. His turn with Puck had lasted almost an hour, in which Finn had spent most of the time on IM with Rachel. They had gotten to round 25 of Nazi Zombies mostly by virtue of Artie managing to upgrade his ray gun and assault rifle. The hordes of Nazi Zombies eventually overwhelmed the crew though, and as the TV cackled at them, he passed the control to Finn.

"I'm going to go downstairs and talk to Kurt."

They didn't seem to pay any attention to him, having switched over to multiplayer combat so as to begin pwnage of n00bs, to quote Artie. Sam supposed that was a good thing, as he left the room. He made his way downstairs. Burt arched an eyebrow my way, as I passed into the living room.

"I'm just going down to talk to Kurt, I haven't seen him in awhile." I said.

"Yeah, he's probably working on some last minute gifts, or figuring out what to wear for Christmas Eve/Day." Burt said. He said it with no self-consciousness about it.

I hesitated in front of the door that led downstairs to the basement. I shuffled my feet nervously , before I finally knocked on the door.

"You can come down!" His voice rang out.

I mechanically pulled the door open, and walked down. Kurt was seated at a sewing machine, working on an outfit. He looked up, somewhat surprised to see me.

"I was expecting either my dad or Carole. Finn and Puck don't usually knock." He said with a bemused expression on his face.

"I probably won't be seeing you tomorrow or Christmas Day, so I have your gift ready." Kurt said.

I sighed to myself, "Kurt, you shouldn't have. I don't deserve a gift from you."

"Nonsense. You stood up for me against that ogre when everyone else was willing to ignore him. You and Sue Sylvester were the only people willing to do anything about the situation. So, of course you deserve a gift. Here it is, I hope you like it."

I took the package from him, and unwrapped it carefully. A long scarf with alternating scarlet and gold patterns was inside. The material was thick, and perfect for the winter that was closing in on Lima.

"Right before I left at the end of November, I noticed that you didn't have a scarf for the Winter. You probably didn't need one in Tennessee after all so, I made it for you. The colors have a dual purpose. The gold matches your hair, and the scarlet goes with your letterman jacket. They're also the colors of Gryffindor house."

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes and trickled down my face. I didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve to have an understanding, compassionate person like Kurt in my life as a friend, let alone as someone who thought I was brave.

"Kurt, if I were brave, I would have been there with you in the beginning. I wouldn't have been self-absorbed, wanting to be popular. I wouldn't have tried to hide who I really was behind a girl who only wanted to be with me after I became popular. I would have sang that duet with you after hearing your beautiful voice, and I would have been your first kiss."

"You can be my first one that matters, Sam."

A/N: I guess this could be more than a one shot. IDK. I think it's at a good spot. Feel free to review, it'd be nice to see what people think.


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